Netflix’s first major movie of 2025 drops this week in the form of “Back in Action." This action-comedy from director Seth Gordon (the man behind “Horrible Bosses” and the awful “Baywatch” reboot) stars Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx as a couple of retired CIA agents who are drawn back into the world of espionage when their secret identities are exposed.
This movie seems to have all the ingredients to be a surefire Netflix No. 1 hit, but to be brutally honest, my initial gut feeling was that it was going to be bad. Perhaps I was being overly cynical, or maybe my bad-movie-detection senses aren’t as sharp as I thought, because after watching “Back in Action” for myself this week, I came away pleasantly surprised. It’s no masterpiece, and its reliance on genre tropes is clear, but it’s charming and enjoyable.
It's certainly not a Netflix original movie that I’d ever deemed an essential watch, and I expect some (slightly harsher) critics will rip its many plot conveniences and corny jokes to shreds, but if you go into the movie looking for simple popcorn entertainment, I think you’ll get exactly what you want.
Here’s everything you need to know about “Back in Action” to help you decide whether it’s a Netflix movie worth adding to your watchlist.
What is ‘Back in Action’ about?
Emily (Cameron Diaz) and Matt (Jamie Foxx) are two of the CIA’s best agents and are engaged in a romantic affair that gets serious when the former reveals she’s pregnant. But the life of a superspy isn’t so compatible with little humans. So, when the two are presented with the opportunity to get out of the secret agent game, they decide to become suburban parents.
Flash forward several years and Emily and Matt are content with raising their two teenage kids (McKenna Roberts and Rylan Jackson) baking sourdough bread and coaching soccer practice. However, when the past catches up with them, the pair are drawn back into the high-octane world of espionage.
With their secret identities no longer secret, Emily and Matt travel to London, England with their kids in tow to meet with Emily’s mother (Glenn Close) and find a way to protect their family. Naturally, they are also drawn into a spy adventure and must thwart a sinister villain along the way. Oh, and Andrew Scott also pops up as a British intelligence agent in love with Emily.
‘Back in Action’ has its charms
“Back in Action” is the first feature appearance of Cameron Diaz since 2014, and the actress slips back into the action-comedy genre with effortless ease. In fairness, that may be because she’s practically made this film before in the form of 2010’s “Knight and Day," which feels so tonally similar that the two movies could exist in the same cinematic universe.
Diaz pairs well with Foxx, and the two have a chemistry that makes them highly believable as a married couple. Foxx is also fortunate to receive the lion's share of the movie’s best lines, with a couple of his quips catching me off guard in the best possible way. Scott comes closest to matching Foxx’s comedic chops, getting in a couple of witty dry remarks himself.
The rest of the supporting cast is solid enough with Glenn Close playing Diaz’s distant British mother who is also a secret agent. The endless jokes about Close’s preference for tea and her stiff upper lip grate because the stereotype has already been mined for comedy for several decades. Her protegee/lover Nigel (Jamie Demetriou) adds some slapstick to the mix, and while I found him a bit unnecessary, younger viewers will enjoy his bumbling nature.
“Back in Action” lacks the globe-trotting aspect of some of its contemporaries — once the cast heads over to England, that is where they stay the rest of the movie — but the plot unfolds at a decent clip, with new revelations and added stakes thrown into the mix often enough to keep you engaged. Though, the final destination is clearly telegraphed from pretty much the very start.
You’ve seen this one before
“Back in Action’s” biggest problem is the inescapable sense of familiarity permeating throughout the blockbuster flick. There’s just no denying that it brings absolutely nothing new to the table. The character arcs and plot beats are so predictable, that I’d mapped out the ending before the first act had even finished, and the mid-movie twist is so obvious it’s almost laughable.
The action sequences are also pretty pedestrian. There’s a high-speed boat race that lacks any energy or sense of speed, and in an effort to keep things light (and presumably appropriate for families) Emily, Matt and their children never feel like they’re in any real danger. Only an inventive brawl in the Tate Modern that sees luminescent glowsticks used as batons stands out and gets the adrenaline flowing. Though, a first-act plane crash scene is also strong.
Should you stream ‘Back in Action’ on Netflix
“Back in Action” is not a fantastic movie. Heck, it’s not even an especially good one. It’s the definition of middle-of-the-road entertainment, but it’s clear that its ambitions don’t extend beyond such a modest goal, and if you’re looking for a big-budget Netflix movie that you watch with the whole family, “Back in Action” is far from the streamer’s worst offering.
Yes, the above is not a ringing endorsement, but when you consider some of the blockbuster dreck that Netflix dropped onto its platform in the past 12 months (such as “Uglies," “Atlas," “The Union” and more), “Back in Action” looks pretty darn good in comparison. The chemistry between Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx mostly saves the day, even if the story is predictable, and the action sequences are mostly uninspired outside a few exceptions.
If you keep your expectations in check, it’s entirely possible to watch "Back in Action" and have enough fun to not feel like you’ve completely wasted two hours. Am I setting the bar too low? Perhaps, but the biggest praise I can give is that the final scene teases a sequel, and if one were to happen, I would watch “Back in Action 2”. I can’t say the same about a follow-up to any of the awful Netflix original movies listed above. So that’s an improvement at least.
If you demand more quality from your movies than “Back in Action” offers, here’s a list of all the new to Netflix movies in January 2025 with at least 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. And for even more options, check out our roundup of everything new added to Netflix this month including movies and TV shows.
Watch "Back in Action" on Netflix now
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